[Pharmaecopia]

I really want to like this game. Everything seems to add up on paper, but I've been playing the beta and I'm disappointed. The whole game seems to fight me for control of my actions. The cursor is a pain, the menus were designed around controller use (even though the PS3 version isn't coming out for a long time), the game itself is jagged and choppy, and it lacks the wonderfully intuitive controls and combat of World of Warcraft.

So, I hope to be here for a while, but that really depends on what the game is like upon release (probably very similar to how it is right now, unfortunately). Thank god my friends are playing, or I don't think I'd even last that long.

I just realized this intro topic sounds really negative. It's not that I hate the game... maybe I just still need time to get used to it. How have you guys been adapting to the game after having played for a while? I'm still on my second day only. Maybe it gets a lot better once you learn to cope with manipulating the UI to get what you want. But at the moment, it's frustrating for me.

[Kurisu]

Welcome to the forums, Pharmaecopia!

Sorry to hear that you're not enjoying the Beta. I can't comment on it myself as I'm not actually in Beta, and I'm holding off to the PS3 release as I don't have a capable PC to play it on.

Stick with it though, and hopefully you will begin to like it!

See you around the forums

[LAW]

Hi there, from another newbie.

I am also not in Beta, so I cannot speak of coping. However, I'm thinking that there will still be much change between Beta's end and release. Even if the everything on the install disc was exactly the same as what the open Beta is set up like (which I find unlikely), it wouldn't surprise me at all if there was an immediate patch upon installation.

I expect that the jagged and choppiness that you refer to, at least, will be changed. I've read and heard many places that the Beta client is less compressed than the retail client would be, therefore causing a few extra issues in that regard. I'm not enough of an engineer to know if that's true or not, but if it is, you'll probably see a little less of that with retail release.

There's always some adjusting to a new game and by the time you're done with the free 30 days that retail gets I'm sure it will all feel more familiar to you. I hope you come to enjoy the game and stick around to chat with us.

[Dalkor]

The choppiness might be your computer, my game (laggy with mouse and menus during crafting & merchant) runs smooth sides what I said in parenthesis. My biggest complaint is how evil the crafting still is, no tutorial where there really needs to be one. Maybe retail will release with a tutorial telling us what each glow means

[Krisfer]

Welcome to the forums Pharmaecopia. I'm currently in open beta and I haven't had any problems with the game being jagged or choppy. It's the most beautiful MMO I've ever played. One thing that does get on my nerves is not being able to move while pulling out my weapon. Stopping mid run to pull out my weapon feels a little awkward, is that what you mean by the game feeling choppy? Also using the mouse will drive you crazy because of how laggy it feels. I've been using a controller to play and I'm loving it. As for Dalkors comment on crafting, I'm hoping things will be a lot better when retail version comes out. I'm pretty sure SE doesn't want us to know everything about the game before it comes out. Think of how long it took for SE to tell us anything about the game, and when they did it was little tidbits here and there for a long time. Anyways, welcome Pharmaecopia. I hope you enjoy your time here and FFXIV.

[Myst]

Oh wow introduction stuff was put up here now? Coolness, anyway welcome to the forum. They made the controls more so for controllers this time around? Seems the exact opposite of how they made it for XI, so in a way that's good but I can definitely see how it can be horrid for the PC gamers who just want to use mouse and keyboard.

Though this is why I'm waiting for consoles FFXI went through almost the same thing pretty much, sad thing is though there will more than likely be a huge patch waiting for us PS3 users.

Again welcome to the forum

[Anera]

Welcome to the site, Pharmaecopia! XD
I was having problems with the mouse and the graphic for a bit. I fix my graphic problem by setting everything to low (or lowest) and updated my graphic card (I guess it didn't have its current update). After all the updates were in the game stop crashing. I fixed my mouse problem by installing a PS3 control to my boyfriend's laptop. I'm playing the beta and FFXIV on a laptop till I have funds to pay a PS3.

[Pharmaecopia]

I've been hearing that things get better when you switch to a controller.

I have a 360 controller I can use. Any suggestions on button mapping? I can see the controller working well for running around towns and interacting with NPCs and menus, but how does it work out for combat? I've got A and B mapped to Enter and Escape, for menu navigation, so that pretty much just leaves X, Y, and the 4 shoulder buttons free.

[Vagabond Sam]

If I remember correctly (Not in front of my PC) then the FFXIV Beta config app has a button mapping option where you can sort out what does what. It's a little better then just mapping your keys to buttons.

While WoW controls and Cmbat might be intuitive they allow for precise and complete control and any drop in that leads to lackluster performance and Rageboot from your party leader running a DPS counter.

FFXIV will always feel organic by comparison disallowing that kind of mircomanagement of skills. I quite enjoy how combat feels at the moment and do not wish for it to become so responsive that we have PC's spinning on the spot as people spin thier mouse in boredom.

As for crafting... Well, thats another post...

Welcome ^^

[Anera]

Pharmaecopia, on Sep 14, 2010 - 5:03 PM, said:

I've been hearing that things get better when you switch to a controller.

I have a 360 controller I can use. Any suggestions on button mapping? I can see the controller working well for running around towns and interacting with NPCs and menus, but how does it work out for combat? I've got A and B mapped to Enter and Escape, for menu navigation, so that pretty much just leaves X, Y, and the 4 shoulder buttons free.

I have no problem in combat with the way I mapped my buttons. But its really what's comfortable for you. I think I reconfigured my buttons and control like 3 times before I was happy with it.

For the 4 shoulder buttons for the PS3, I mapped the L1 and L2 for Marcos (the CTRL and ALT ones). For R1 and R2, I mapped them as Active/Passive mode and Target Lock respectively. The only 2 buttons I did not map were the right and left on the D pad. I had them as the select targets, but it was hard to run and select something at the same time. So, I made the Triangle and Circle the select target buttons. I still try to use the left and right d pad buttons from time to time. I'm still getting use to it. I have X as enter and Square as cancel.